DEVELOPING A FIVE STAR PLAN
Accomplishments or Skills
Satisfaction Participation
Contributions Connections
Educational leaders (Yselldyke & Thurlow 1994) identifiedthe fundamental elements of a balanced educational program for all students, including those with significant special needs. They described thosefive essential elements asACCOMPLISHMENTS, PARTICIPATION, CONNECTIONS, CONTRIBUTIONS and SATISFACTION. This author has renamed that construct as the 5 Star Plan.
USE THE 5 ELEMENTS TO PLAN or REVIEWa STUDENT’S PROGRAM
ACCOMPLISHMENTS or SKILLS: These are the specific Goals / Skills /Objectives that the student is working on. It is their curriculum or their IEP. Ensure that therapists who work with the student identify goals and skills for the IEP.
PARTICIPATION: All students need rich opportunities to participate in a wide range of typical school activities (this includes everything from recess, music class, assemblies and art, to opportunities in the regular class).
What typical activities has the student participated in on a regular basis this year or this term? Is the student also working on specific IEP goals and skills related to fuller participation in activities?
CONNECTIONS: Students with disabilities need considerable opportunities to connect in meaningful ways with same aged typical peers.
What Connections does the student have with peers? Is the student also
working on IEP? Goals related to communication and social interaction skills?
CONTRIBUTIONS: All students need opportunities to Contribute – to the group, to the classroom, the school and ultimately to the community. Typical students need this – they fight to clean blackboards – or white boards nowadays – they take notes to the office, they act as peer helpers. Students with special needs benefit from these experiences too – especially if they can participate in Contributions that are seen as having status – so, not cleaning up wrappers and garbage from the playground after lunch when no one else does that except students who are being punished. Instead, our students with special needs should be participating in meaningful and status enhancing programs.
What specific contributions does the student make to the class and to the school?
How do they ‘help out’? Is this a scheduled activity for the student?
Does the special needs student participate with others in this activity? Does the activity or do the peers have status?
SATISFACTION: The Satisfaction dimension relates to the student’s needs and the school systems ability to provide for that educational need. It is the overall support and structures which need to be in place for the student. For example, in order for some students to have a satisfactory school experience they need an alternative curriculum while other students may require academic challenges.
Does the focus student need quiet time? A clear set of boundaries? Do they need an exciting program or a calming one? Does the student need novelty or do they do much better with predictable routines? What activities has the student most enjoyed? What social connections has the student enjoyed most?
Knowing what is supportive and satisfying to the student and then providing it, whenever possible, makes for a positive and productive school program for everyone – staff and students alike.
DEVELOPING A FIVE STAR PLAN
Accomplishments or Skills
Satisfaction Participation
Contributions Connections
USE THE 5 ELEMENTS TO PLAN or REVIEW a STUDENT’S PROGRAM
ACCOMPLISHMENTS or SKILLS:
PARTICIPATION:
CONNECTIONS:
CONTRIBUTIONS:
SATISFACTION:
FIVE STAR PLAN Sample
Johnny’s 5 Star Plan (Beginning of the School Year Planning)
Johnny is in grade 6. He has Autism and a seizure disorder. He has average cognition and good math skills, but literacy skills are several years below grade level. He is new to our school.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS / IEP GOALS:
Goal 1: Developing Compliance and Managing Emotions
Goal 2: Developing Independence in completing Tasks
Goal 3: Developing Social Connections and Skills
Goal 4: Continuing with Academic Skills using Technology
CONNECTIONS:
Johnny has few connections to peers or adults. He is new to the school, he has not settled in well – the move was overwhelming to him. He needs support and opportunities to relax and then engage with a few select peers. He has made a positive connection with the principal. He needs to connect with teacher and assistant. We need to determine what activities he likes so that we can set up those activities for him and he could invite a peer or two.
PARTICIPATION:
Johnny enjoys computer class… he doesn’t always like doing the same activity as peers though. At his previous school he enjoyed more activities such as math, library, recycling and recess. The staff described Johnny as ‘liking to help out’. We need to support him in re-connecting with those school experiences.
CONTRIBUTIONS
Johnny hasn’t been able to participate yet in our school recycling program or the book return program, although he did do those both in his last school and enjoyed them. We will be looking for opportunities for Johnny to make contributions and hopefully enhance his self esteem.
SATISFACTION
Johnny is quite stressed from the many big changes in his life, moving communities, new home, and a new school and leaving his friends. In addition, he has had two medication changes that resulted, at least initially, in an increase in seizures. He is now off of ADHD meds, his seizures are under much better control. But he is having a great deal of trouble managing his behaviour.
Happiness (or Satisfaction) for Johnny would be:
- Calm, predictable school program
- Less stress… determine what can be expected of him academically and what can not be at this time
- Adult support to help him stabilize emotionally
- Continuing support from the neurologist and pediatrician
- Use of technology to reduce written out put problems and frustrations
- Support to connect with a few peers
- Support to participate in preferred school activities – leaving the non-preferred out of the
- schedule for now
August 20114.8